Totalitarianism and Gigantism in Napa Valley?
James Conaway is wrong about Napa Valley:
While at the California Preservation Foundation Conference in Napa Valley, Conaway said about Napa Valley (Quoting from the Napa Valley Register):
"Conaway said the undoing of the Napa Valley may be the sprawl of boutique wineries by rich newcomers who would sacrifice our natural and architectural heritage in the name of “showing off.”
First, would it be different if the sprawl of boutique wineries were being built by middle class, old-timers? Second, the implication in the idea that our "architectural heritage" in Napa is being sacrificed, suggests there is a style of architecture for wineries that is "better". Really? Better? How? This strikes me as a form of Nimbyism/Elitism/Good-Old-Daysism.
"He cited the architecture of Dominus Estate — a winery covered with stone-filled gabion enclosures — as an example of “totalitarian” design, an “unapproachable” building that serves the “vineyard elite” that now rule the Napa Valley."
Wow..."Totalitarian"? It "serves the Napa Valley elite"? How is Dominus "totalitarian"? I need to remember this rhetorical tool. Think up all the words that have ugly connotations and use them when I want to criticize someone, regardless of whether or not these words have any relationship to the topic at hand. Maybe something like this: "In a Nazi-like yelp filled with fascist-implications, the author let loose with a sneaky blitzkrieg of commie-inspired accusations!"
"In the same vein, Conaway disparaged the Frank Gehry-design for what
will be Hall Winery in St. Helena, a clear case of a building dictated
by “fashion, not function.”
Since when is function the only thing to be considered when constructing a building? One suspects that the
Palace at Versaille could have been far more functional were it built as a simple rectangle with only straight lines.
"Tourists play into this trend, Conaway said. “They’re attracted by the spectacular.” Be wary of catering to tourists, he said. “Tourism can devour the thing it loves.”"
Indeed, tourism has just killed the wine industry. I mean, imagine a winery actually including direct contact with the customer as part of their marketing plan. What are they thinking?? That's just crazy!!
"Conaway, who is an editor at large for Preservation magazine, said George Yount, the valley’s first white settler, would hardly recognize the place today. The Napa of his day was marked by abundant wildlife, clear-running streams and dense forests on the western hills, Conaway said. If conference attendees were to venture into the hills today, they would find forest “scrapped raw” by vineyard development, he said."
I have to assume this quote is taken out of context or at least the context of this quote just isn't included in the article but that it exists somewhere. George Yount? The implication is that Napa Valley would be better off the way George Yount found it in the middle to late 19th century with its Grizzly Bears running around in mass numbers and not a human being to be found outside of a band of Native Americans. I wish I knew what Conaway was trying to get at here.
"Perversely, the very success of the Napa Valley wine industry — wine grapes are “one of the most valuable legal crops in the country” — has created the conditions that threaten it, he said. The valley is attracting the mega-wealthy who want a piece of the action, he said. Vineyards have been planted on questionable terrain. The homes of the rich are infected by “gigantism.”"
What's the threat? Someone please show me the threat that are vineyards? And someone else has to point me to a time when wealthy folks DID NOT build larger homes for themselves? "Infected"??? "Infected by gigantism"? And finally, which vineyards have been planted on "questionable terrain"?
I wish I was at this talk, damn it! The message delivered by these quotes just can't be real. Can they? If these are the real thoughts of Mr. Conaway, then they must lead to his concluding of one of two things: It's just too darn bad what's happened to Napa Valley and we should mourn the loss of pristine wilderness or we should create laws that regulate how wealthy one can be to own a winery or vineyard as well as the style of architecture that is allowed on private property.
Ok...so Francis Ford Coppola 
I was reminded recently of an amazing resource of which we all ought to be aware.
In today's SF Chronicle Janet Fletcher 
I have a confession. I'm not too often convinced that winemakers have very much of interest to say. 
Remember that feeling you got as a child when you walked down Disneyland's Main Street? It was all there. Everything a child could possible want out of life. Nothing spared. You grabbed your parent's hand and literally pulled them toward Sleeping Beauty's Castle with visions of amazing adventures, rides and fun beyond.
Can someone please explain to me how it is that I've not been to New York City for almost 20 years! I've set up countless dinners, events, lunches and media meetings for clients in that time, but I've never been. It's not emberassing, but a considered a personal failure on my part.
I bet there was a time when the White House, under no circumstances, would have served a California wine at a State dinner for a visiting leader from Europe. That time would have been long ago, but nonetheless I'll bet there was a time. And the reason is probably the same that explains how Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius could have been led to 
Professional golf came to Sonoma Wine Country this week. Specifically, it came to Sonoma Valley in the form of the 
distributors, repeat. After about five or six years of this Jeff Mayo was burnt out trying to manage his distributor force across the country. Most of all he was tired of getting fifty cents on the dollar for his wine, the price that distributors demand. He decided to try the tasting room route and opened in one of his family's properties in Kenwood what would be the first co-op tasting room in Sonoma Country. He invited five other wineries to pour at the tasting room.
The Reserve Room was born. In the first co-op tasting room Mayo opened a little visitor room where you cold sit, taste seven reserve wines, and taste them next to seven bites of tremendous culinary creations put together by the in-house chef. This worked out. Today that small, seven table tasting room with food results in twice as many wine club memberships per visitor than than the tasting room. Mayo went on to repeat this idea in a Healdsburg location.
There is no time of year better than this moment (mid to late October) when the vineyardlands of California are more beautiful. What makes them so compelling right now is a rich combination of order and chaos.
Many schools will send a child home or make them wear a school sweatshirt if they come to class with wearing winery schwag. We are constantly told that if any amount of alcohol hits the lips of a person under 21 they will die a terrible death and take others with them. Hell, the very idea that a minor looks at an advertisement for alcohol seems to set off some people.
The idea of putting 30 roses on your wine list is really quite absurd...unless you are ready to promote the hell out of rose to your patrons. I assume that's exactly what 
I love American Viticultural Areas (AVAs). They help make a PR Guy like me busy. 
The filming today appears to be focused on what we in Glen Ellen refer to as the "London Bar". "London" as in "Jack London". The bar is something of a dive and a poor reminder of Glen Ellen's heyday when it supported upwards of 5 or 6 watering holes. I've spent some time there in the past, usually after a late dinner when everything else close to home has shut down and we all were not ready to stop for the night. But the wood paneled, scraggly old bar with its stale popcorn is probably a pretty good place to set a scene or two.
Two creeks converge in the town and they made for great swimming and fishing around the turn of the century when city folk would venture up in the summer to hang out on Sonoma Creek. The town of course drew most of its fame from the fact that 
my town was on bottles on nearly every table in America. 
The wine industry takes a lot of heat for being elitist. It's the way we talk about wine, the way we seem to revere it and it's the trappings of the industry that cause this impression. 
One of the very best (meaning fun) winery events I've ever attended was the Roshambo Rock-Paper-Scissors World Championships. 
Anyone who isn't dreaming about a better life or at least a lifestyle more suited to their disposition probably isn't very imaginative.
have been made into outstanding wines by Navarro and Steel. The Zin portion of the vineyard was planted about 90 years ago. The vineyard itself is at an elevation of 1,200 feet meaning the cooler weather produces grapes that lead to wines of "mountain" character. Read: Good backbone and structure. And it appears that there are folks more than willing to line up to buy the grapes if the new buyer isn't inclined to make their own wine. Were you to sell the grapes off the Dupratt vineyard its unlikely you'd get anywhere close to covering your mortgage. But the view of the vineyards from your house might make up for that.
Last night I was thumbing through National Geograhic Traveller and I come across one of those "how to DO" articles about Disneyworld. Insider trips, how to get te best out of the experience, etc. I like these articles. Every now and then they have a nugget in them that can transform your experience. But it got me thinking, as Tourist Season heads toward us here in my neck of the woods, there needs to be a 
